Art of hat manufacture



Sept. 28, 1937. F. H. LEE

ART OF HAT MANUFACTURE Filed NOV. '7, 1956 zlwvcmkm fkA/VK /1. LEE

5 v v n? 4- V Patented Sept. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT orr ice ART-'OF HAT MANUFACTURE ceased Application November 7, 1936, Serial No.109,782

3 Claims.

This; invention relates to the art of hat'manufacture and inits morespecific aspects pertains to a method of finishing fur or felt hats andto the resulting hat article.

Among the objects of the present invention may be noted the provision ofa novel method of treating fur or felt hats whereby'to impart thereto adistinctive and unique finish; the provision ofa novel and improvedmethod of finishing hats; the provision of amethod of finishing hatsduring their course of manufacture, which is simple and relativelyinexpensiveinpractice; the provision of a hat-having a distinctive andimproved appearance; and the provision of a hat having a finish -of'such nature making it particularlyacceptable for sports wear, althoughnot limited thereto.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part hereinafter pointedout in connection with the following analysis of this invention whereinis'illustrated an embodiment 'of the invention in detail.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a view of a hat article finished in accordancewith the practice of the method of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial section through the felt body of a hat ata partial stage in the finishing thereof in accordance with the presentinvention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial section through the felt body of the hatfollowing completion of the finishing operation in accordance with thepresent invention; and.

Fig. 4 is a surface view of a portion of a hat as in Fig. 3.

In the practice of the method of the present invention, the hat body isfabricated in the rough by conventional or approved practices; that isto say, the hat bat is formed in the well known manner and "is thereuponfelted and shrunk down tobody size, after which it is stretched andblocked, the hat at this stage of its manufacture being known to thetrade as a rough hat. In the conventional manufacture of hats, suchrough hat is generally pounced prior to finishing, the pouncingoperation consisting generally in subjecting the hat while rotating athigh speed to the action of an abrasive sheet or its equivalent, thus tocut away from the body of felt the projecting surface fiberscharacteristic of a rough hat body prior to pouncing.

According to the method of the present invention, I eliminate the stepof pouncing and hence the hat going to the finishing operations to bedescribed may be termed an unpounced rough hat.

Such unpounced rough hat, according to the present invention, is put ona block of appropriate head size, and its surface fibers are scratchedup in known manner. Such scratching up operation may consist oftreatment of the hat surface with a wire brush or equivalent, with theresult that the loose or projecting ends of the fur fibers are raisedfrom the body of the felt.

Preferably, the crown and brim of the hat are now ironed, such ironingoperation at this stage of manufacture causing the relatively long andprojecting surface fibers to be uniformly laid, and also causing suchfibers to besoftened due to the heatimparted by the iron.

The hat is again subjected toa scratching up operation, as aforesaid,causing the laid and softened fibers to be again'rai sed from the bodyof the felt as a preliminary to the clipping operation. Such clippingoperation comprises generally the cutting or clipping away of the longends of the raised fibers as by rotating knives or blades, the resultinghat having a surface characterized by relatively short fibers of uniformlength projecting or raised from the body of the felt, the length of thefibers being long, however, in comparison to the surface fiber length ofthe hats subjected to the conventional pouncing step, and the hatconsequently having a rough finish or appearance.

The clipped hat, while still on the block, as aforesaid, is nextfianged, the fianging operation giving to the brim its set or flange,and the hat now possesses its final shape.

The flanged hat is thereupon subjected to the final finishing step, suchcomprising the surface treatment of the hat with a substance havingadhesive properties, which, when worked in between the raised surfacefibers as aforesaid causes adjacent fibers to group or bunch togetherand the relatively outer ends of the fibers of the bunches to becometwisted and to knot together, with the substance as aforesaid thenfunctioning to maintain adhesively the fibers in their twisted relation.By so working a substantial surface of the hat, there results amultiplicity of fiber groups or bunches of relatively short length andslightly spaced from each other throughout the treated area, it beingunderstood that this treatment may be given to a particular surface,such as the crown, or to the entire surface of the hat.

The resulting hat has a finish or appearance somewhat resembling that ofchinchilla, which by reason of the set and interconnection of the fibersof the multiplicity of fiber bunches obtains throughout the life of thehat.

One substance having the desired adhesive properties which I have foundto be satisfactory in causing adjacent fibers to bunch, is gumtragacanth, although other natural gums, such as gum arabic, gumsenegal, agar-agar, or artificial gums, such as ester gum, may beutilized to advantage. The gum tragacanth is applied sparingly over thesurface of the hat as by a sponge or equivalent applying means and maybe Worked in between the surface fibers of the hat with the hand by thefinisher, who will pref erably Wear a rubber glove. Preferably also, thegum is worked in with a circular motion and by the heel of the hand. Itwill be understood that methods of applying and working in the gum otherthan those suggested above may be prac-- ticed within the scope of thepresent invention.

Following the finishing operation as aforesaid the hat is trimmed andbound in the usual manner.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 represents a hat finished in accordance with theforegoing method, the hat illustrated being a mans hat comprising acrown l and a brim l I. It will be understood that such a hatconfiguration or contour as illustrated is typical only, as theinvention is equally applicable to the finishing of womens fur or felthats and head coverings generally.

In Fig. 2 is shown an enlarged portion of the felt body of a hatfollowing the final clipping operation as aforesaid and prior to thefinal finishing operation. Reference character I5 designates the body ofthe felt formed of interfelted and interlocked fur fibers, the surfacefibers l6 of which have been scratched up whereby they are raised fromthe body I 5 of the felt and extend relatively outwardly therefrom. Byreason of the clipping operation as aforesaid the raised fibers l6 areof substantially uniform length.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, such being representative of the relation ofthe surface fibers following the final finishing step, it will be notedthat a plurality of adjacent fibers have been Worked to form amultiplicity of slightly spaced fiber bunches H, the fibers of which aretwisted together so as to be interconnected adjacent their relativelyouter ends. V .The finished hat article as indicated in Fig. 1 possessesa unique and distinctive appearance and has a surface texture which issoft and pleas- As many changes could be made in carrying out the abovemethod without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the foregoing description shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A hat having a felt body and a surface finish constituted by surfacefibers of substantially uniform length extending from the body, thefibers being arranged in a multiplicity of spaced groups, and the fibersof a group being adhesively secured together adjacent their outer ends.

2. A hat having a felt body and a surface finish constituted by surfacefibers of substantially uniform length extending from the body, thefibers beingarranged in a multiplicity of spaced groups, the fibers of agroup being twisted together adjacent their ends and adhesivelymaintained in such twisted relation. I

3. A hat having a felt body and a surface finish constituted by surfacefibers of substantially uniform length extending from the body, thefibers throughout the greater surface area of the felt body beingarranged in a multiplicity of minutely spaced groups, the fibers of thegroups being twisted together, at least some of the fibers of the groupscarrying a substance operative adhesively to maintain the fibers in suchtwisted relation.

FRANK H. LEE.

